The present invention relates to an enclosure for electronic, data processing and other housed equipment wherein a number of covers or panels are assembled onto a frame.
It is usual to provide electronic and other equipment mounted in a support frame. The frame is then surrounded by panels to provide an enclosure. In cases where the equipment is small, the frame, which is usually made of metal, can be made to fairly precise dimensions. There is no difficulty in fitting panels around the frame. As the equipment becomes larger, the dimensions of the frame become less accurate. Tolerance errors between mounting points on the panels and mounting points on the frame often make it necessary to provide instant modification to either the panel or the frame before the panels can be mounted upon the frame to make the enclosure.
It is known in the art to fabricate the frame itself as an exposed part of the enclosure and to apply panels to open portions thereof. This increases the cost of the frame by adding a requirement for cosmetic acceptability and allows direct electrical access to the equipment in its frame. The latter condition causes problems with electrostatic discharge and radio interference.
The present invention consists in an equipment enclosure comprising: a support frame; a side panel for attachment to a top edge of a side face of the frame to cover the side face; a top panel for covering a top face of the frame with a front edge of the top panel in proximity with a top edge of a front face of the frame and a rear edge of the top panel in proximity with a top edge of a rear face of the frame; a front panel for attachment to the front face of the frame and for attachment to the top panel at the front edge; and a rear panel for attachment to the rear face of the frame and for attachment to the top panel at the rear edge; the front panel and the rear panel being co-operative with the top panel to hold the top panel onto the frame; and the top panel being co-operative with the top edge of the side face of the frame to prevent removal of the side panel from the frame.
An equipment enclosure according to the present invention is made where tolerance build up on the frame does not prevent mounting of the panels. The outer dimensions of the case or enclosure are determined by the interaction between the panels, rather than by the interaction between each panel and its mounting point on the frame.
It is a preferred feature of the present invention that all panels be in contact with the frame by means of elastic members such as gaskets, allowing further movement between the panel and the frame while maintaining mechanical contact.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention hereinafter described, the frame has a pair of side panels mounted on catches which allow those side panels a degree of freedom of movement relative to the frame. A top panel is placed upon a top face of the frame and the side panels contact the edges of the top panel to define the width of the enclosure. Thereafter, front and rear panels are attached first to front and rear edges of the top panel and then to the frame. In the preferred embodiment, the front and rear panels are attached to the frame by means respectively of front and rear based panels. The latter panels engage a lower edge respectively of the front and rear panels and are in turn attached to the frame by a releasable locking mechanism. In the preferred embodiment, the top panel can thus have dimensional tolerance with respect to the frame in a forward and backward direction as well as in a side-to-side direction.